The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Advantages:
The boxset is inexspensive, and you can also get a feature length movie called Serenity to go with it, long lasting entertainment, crosses genres so that nonsci fi fans still get hooked
Disadvantages:
Fox cancelled it, so unless someone commisons more, this is it . Did I mention this show is addictive?
Recommendable
Yes:
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
SoundtrackGood
How does it compare to others by the same director?Outstanding
Hey you, please log in! I am also at Dooyoo and Epinions, and variations of my reviews may also be f...
Hey you, please log in! I am also at Dooyoo and Epinions, and variations of my reviews may also be found there :P I am a home educating parent, as well as a freelance author. Wish me luck, I am attempting to learn Japanese! with my children
Member since:16.08.2001
Reviews:265
Members who trust:56
I came upon this series quite by accident. I was looking through listings one night, and nothing else decent was on at the time, so I flicked to the Sci Fi channel's reshowing of the original Star Trek series. That moment changed my life forever, and made me a big flan (NO, that is NOT a typo) and, dare I admit it, a Browncoat. For just that moment, as the channel came into focus, an advertisement for a show beginning that Friday came on. The show? Firefly.
How could I resist it? Nathan Fillion telling me how we had fled Earth after using it up, a view of a REALLY decrepit space ship flaring its engine in space, and a tantalising glimpse of what appeared to be....a WESTERN! What WAS this?! I simply had to satisfy my idle curiosity.
So on Friday, I set my Sky+ and when I actually had time to watch it, I did. I split my gut laughing. Not because it was bad or anything, but sheerly from the humour imbued within the crew's life. A good bit of the humour comes from the crew's make up itself: A captain who was on the losing side of a war, yet names his decrepit transport ship after the very battle he lost everything at, and who often gets beat up, badly, quite often. His second in command is a
very lovely, but tough as nails former soldier who served with him at said battle (the Battle of Serenity). Her rather needy techno geek husband who is rather insecure about her friendship with the captain. The ship's cute young country bumpkin mechanic. Think if Scotty had been a naive Daisy Duke, but in a boiler suit or coveralls. Then we have a man named Jayne. Now that man truly is brainless, and a bit on the greedy side, but he has an awesome collection of guns and is a crack shot. He is also dumb enough to do the dangerous stuff the captain sends him to do.
Then we have the passengers who became crew. You see, Serenity is a scrap yard bargain the cap'n bought in order to move cargo. Only there is not a lot of cargo he can actually run legally, so he takes passengers from time to time, mostly to cover the fact that he has illegal cargo hidden on the ship. In this case, a passenger called Shepherd Book, a preacher who is not quite what he seems, and a young brilliant doctor named Simon who is on the run from the law. Oh yes, and also his sister, the reason he is on the run from the law. Seems the government that won the war pretended to set up an academy for young geniuses, only they did terrible experiments with them to see what they could get them to do...things like bring on telepathy and also to turn them into lethal fighting machines. She makes Jessica Alba's X5 look like an amateur! Her brother froze her, took passage, and pretended she was cargo. Only we have that stupid, greedy crewmember on board who wanted a nosy at the rich doctor's belongings...Unfortunately, their mind games also made her a trifle insane.
One of the other ways the captain makes money is by renting out one of his two space shuttles. The space shuttle is rented by one beautiful geisha called Inara, and the captain and she are infatuated with each other, but disdainful.
All of this of course means you get classic moments between the characters. Throw in the adventures on the ground they get into during their escapades of trying to make an (dis)honest living and the unsavoury people they encounter, and even just the trouble they get into trying to seal an air leak, find more advanced medical care for a sick crew member, or the poor captain getting hitched all unawares, and you get a cracking good show that defies categorization. It is a western by virtue of some of the outer planets being rather frontier like, and low tech in many ways. It is sci fi because it has space ships, hi-tech weapons and wealthy worlds full of (for them) modern technology. It is a thriller because spies are after the girl and a beyond top secret secret that she knows that will shake the known political 'verse. It is just plain great television, and if you don't watch it (you can rent it from the DVD rental places if hesitant to buy it) you will miss some epic television.
I could go on about who created it, who the actors are, and how Fox cancelled a great show out of stupidity (nothing new there!), but none of that matters. Go on, watch it. Then get Serenity and be amazed again. Just be warned, it is addictive. You will catch yourself wanting to watch it again...and again, and again...Now you know why I bought this boxset. Heck, I even got a copy for my uncle in America. Turned him Browncoat too.
Ok, now you know what you get with the show itself in this set. But, no boxset is ever complete without some goodies. And the goodies in this boxset are just shiny! You get the wonderful series PLUS Commentaries on selected episodes a BEHIND-THE-SCENES featurette, Deleted Scenes, a Gag Reel and even the audition tape . this set is so good, it would even distract Jubal Early. if you have no idea who he is, rent or buy this boxset and find out! You know you want to!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2004 - Science Fiction - Director: Alex Proyas - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan Tudyk
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Much praised and much missed after its premature cancellation,Fireflyis the first SF TV ... more
series to be conceived by Joss Whedon, creator ofBuffyand cocreator ofAngel. Set five centuries in the future, it is a show where the mysterious personal pasts of t...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Much praised and much missed after its premature cancellation,Fireflyis the first SF TV ... more
series to be conceived by Joss Whedon, creator ofBuffyand cocreator ofAngel. Set five centuries in the future, it is a show where the mysterious personal pasts of t...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
All 14 Series EpisodesFive hundred years in the future there's a whole new frontier, and a ... more
crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity is eager to stake a claim on the action. They'll take any job, legal or illegal, to keep fuel in the tanks and food ...
Five hundred years in the future there's a whole new frontier and the crew of the ... more
Firefly-class spaceship Serenity is eager to stake a claim on the action. They'll take any job legal or illegal to keep fuel in the tanks and food on the table. But th...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Excellent script/writing, fantastic characters, and a good overall "look" and "feel" to the show. Disadvantages: There is only one season of Firefly
![Firefly - The Complete Series [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78518679.jpg "Firefly - The Complete Series [DVD] [2003]")
very helpful by (82%):
helpful by (18%):
